Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Betty White

Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Betty White (1978)

This episode of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast has Betty White falling victim to the jokes and what can you say by the fact that I'm watching this fifty years after it aired and she's still going strong! Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Charlie Callas, Phyllis Diller, Dan Haggerty, John Hillerman, Rich Little, LaWanda Page and Abe Vegoda are just a few of the faces who appear here for the insults and jokes. Overall this is a decent entry for the series but there's no question that it was lacking in regards to the laughs. While it was funny throughout there's no question that the quality had certainly gone down from the earlier episodes and you can tell that just by how many of the famous faces aren't here. With that said, there are some funny moments scattered throughout, which makes this worth watching. Lawanda Page easily the steals with her act.

Episode: B

The 1977 roast of Betty White can be said to be routine, with the usual cast of regulars seen that year, such as Red Buttons, Jimmie Walker, Charlie Callas, La Wanda Page, Orson Welles, Milton Berle, and the always hilarious Foster Brooks. Only Georgia Engel appeared from THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, while John Hillerman was currently co-starring on THE BETTY WHITE SHOW, which lasted just two seasons. The newcomers include Bonnie Franklin, from ONE DAY AT A TIME, and Peter Marshall, who mentions being a recent roastee himself. Dan Haggerty, the star of GRIZZLY ADAMS, makes fun of Betty's cooking, Rich Little mentions her famous dimples (looking good at age 55), while Abe Vigoda, TV's tired FISH, talks about being mistaken for a real cop, walking into a singles bar only to see all the young girls rush out: "that's why I went in there in the first place!" Even Phyllis Diller actually looks great (at 60), after her recent plastic surgery: "if the knot ever comes loose!" Betty's love of animals is skewered, even by her husband, Allen Ludden (who died in 1981), famous as the host of the popular game show PASSWORD, claiming he had to sit up and beg before she would marry him: "then on our honeymoon, she rolled over and played dead!"

It is such a shame that almost everyone is gone. Betty White is still going strong in her nineties. This roast was done in typical Dean Martin style. Everybody always seems to have a good time smoking and drinking on the dais. Dean Martin leads the roasting group in joking about themselves and the woman of the hour. The celebrity roasts were a celebration where we saw stars be themselves. If you're a Betty White fan, you will love to see her late husband, Allen Ludden, roast her before she took to the podium.